


One Day, Everything Changed

by sktrgrl13



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Because What is Voltron Without Slow Burn, Blood and Injury, Both Boys Are Important, But Might Not Be Too Slow, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Empathy, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Impatient Authoress, Insecurity, Light Is At The End Of the Tunnel, M/M, Mentions of Anxiety, Mild Language, Mind Meld, Multi, OT3, Or Peoples With Anxiety, PTSD, Slow Burn, So Does Lance, Story has a mind of its own, Team Bonding, hints at depression, keith needs love, klangst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-01-29 14:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12632607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sktrgrl13/pseuds/sktrgrl13
Summary: Two Boys Who Lost Everything.Two Boys Who Are Searching.Two For Family and Two For Solace.But Only One with A Huge Secret.





	1. It All Started With A Bang

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Everyone!
> 
> Welcome to my first Voltron story!  
> I've been #VoltronTrash for a long time now (almost a year and a half) and I've been debating posting a story in the fandom for just as long...so here we are! :P  
> I apologize ahead of time for any OOC-ness for the characters (especially in regards to Hunk and Lance, because they were surprisingly difficult to write LOL)  
> Considering the situation that I put them in, all the characters and their interactions are bound to be a little bit different, but I am hoping to stay as true to their characters as I possibly can, so please bear with me! :) :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story! <3

Everything seemed so different.

When he was younger he never thought that he would see this much green or feel such temperate air brushing against his pale skin. He didn’t expect to see such pretty flowers blooming on the trees or people stopping in the middle of the street and talking to each other.

He couldn’t remember the last time he saw a place like this one.

He glanced around the town square and gazed at the various food stalls and vendors that seemed to outline it. Everywhere he looked, someone seemed to be selling something and at least one other person was buying. All he could see were smiling faces and it almost made him want to smile as well, but he wasn’t sure if he knew how to.

It’s been so long since he had felt the need to smile. There wasn’t really anything to smile about.

He was alone.

His mother and father…

His brother…

The boy winced at his own train of thought and continued to push his way through the crowded streets; willing the dark memories and emotions out of his mind. His brother had warned him that if his emotions got out of control so would his magic and that was something he had to avoid at all cost.

He didn’t want them to find him again.

The boy gazed down at his tattered, fingerless gloves and curled his small appendages into the base of his palm. He could feel the energy that hummed around the pads of his fingers and he knew that he needed help, but he knew better than to touch anyone.

He didn’t know anyone in this town; they could all be bounty hunters for all he knew. He shoved his hands deep into his holey jeans and buried his face into the neck of his dirty sweater.

Keeping his deep indigo eyes on the cobbled street in front of him, the boy trudged his way onward in search of someplace to stay. His mind drifted back to his brother once more; he said that there were a lot of magic guilds in the west that would keep him safe.

He rolled his eyes to himself and chewed on his chapped lips. His brother truly was a self-sacrificing idiot, but he loved him with everything that he had. And he would do _anything_ to get him back safe and sound.

Just because he was eight years old, doesn’t mean he had to run away scared – he had to get his brother back. He knew that his first priority was to find a guild and ask for help. It was the only way that he would be able to repay everyone who had ever helped him, but it would involve talking to them…

It would involve _touching_ them.

What if they shunned him once they found out his secret?

What if they hand him right back into the hands of those people in the lab coats and the bounty hunters?

What if they handed him back to _her_?

With his heart pounding in his chest, he picked up his speed and manoeuvered around the excited townspeople as carefully as he could.

Maybe finding a guild wasn’t a good idea.

He could always just do a few odd jobs here and there. He could just live on the streets, in the alleys, or something; it’s not something he hasn’t done before. And anything would be better than where he came from anyway.

With new found determination, the boy turned on his heel and headed towards a nearby alley on the other side of the road. Maybe if he moved quick enough he could disappear without being noticed – he was quite good at that after all.

Suddenly he was jostled out of his thoughts as he ran into something fairly solid. He glanced around himself to see what happened; it wouldn’t be the first time he ran into a wall. His eyes immediately landed on a man who was standing before him with a worried frown on his face.

“Are you alright young’un?”

The boy couldn’t stop staring at the man, his heart pounding furiously in his ears.

Those eyes…amber like the setting sun.

The boy backed away from the man warily; the man looking down on him with something akin to concern. He flinched away from the burning gaze as his skin started to itch uncomfortably. There’s no way that he could trust this man, it had to be a trick…

 _Those eyes_ …

The older man squatted on his haunches and reached to grab a hold of the boy’s frail arm,

“C’mon now boy, let’s bring you somewhere safe so that we can look for your parents.”

The boy shook his head back and forth frantically, fear nearly clouding his vision. He tugged desperately on his arm so he could get it out of the old man’s grasp, but it just prompted the stranger to latch onto him. He could feel the tears gathering in his eyes as his strength started to give out and he was finally being pulled away from the safety of the alley he was headed towards.

_No…_

He had to get away.

_Let me go!_

He had to get away; he couldn’t be taken again.

_Please, I promise I’ll stay out of the way!_

It was all up to him… he had to save them – he had to save the others…

_I’ll listen to anything you say, if you just let me go!_

He had to find a guild…he had to find his…

_I WON’T LET YOU TAKE ME!_

****

 “C’mon Hunk, it’ll be a lot of fun!”

“I’m not so sure Lance,” A timid, dark haired boy mumbled under his breath as he glanced at his friend, “I don’t think that sounds like a good idea.”

The brown haired boy pouted before crossing his arms defiantly over his chest. Okay, yeah, maybe it _wasn’t_ a good idea, but he was so _bored_. With Allura away on a ‘special mission’ with her dad and everyone else being ‘busy’ with other, most likely unimportant, things the Cuban boy didn’t know what to do with himself.  

“But Buddy,” He shouted as he latched onto his larger friend’s arm and shook it back and forth, “Where’s your sense of adventure?!”

Hunk cringed at the loud volume of Lance’s voice and tried to pull away from him; he laughed nervously,

“I must have left it at home before I came here this morning…”

Lance raised an unimpressed eyebrow,

“Hunk, we both live right next door in the guild housing.”

The slightly older boy winced slightly at Lance’s deadpan statement and rubbed the back of his neck; his eyes looking anywhere than at the boy standing in front of him with his hands on his hips. Noticing Hunk’s lack of response to his statement and his blatant anxiety, Lance sighed under his breath and dropped his arms to his side.

“Look I’m sorry man,” The shorter of the two mumbled on the exhale, “I shouldn’t push you if you’re not comfortable with it.”

“No, no,” Hunk shook his head back and forth; quick to reassure the other, “You’re not pushing…well, much.”

Lance glanced at his friend almost thankfully, despite the little jibe made at his expense. He honestly had no idea what he would do if he didn’t have Hunk by his side. After everything that happened in their old village…it was a miracle that they managed to make it out at all. He clenched his fists at his side and felt the comforting chill of his magic coat his arms like a second skin.

Subconsciously, the brown haired boy clutched onto the sleeve of his jacket to hide the growing frost and shifted his eyes away from his rather timid friend; burying his own nose into the collar. Sometimes he could still smell the scent of _home_ lingering on it and it helped him remember that somewhere out there, his family was waiting for him.

For both him and Hunk.

He would always be thankful for what the Castle of Lions has done for him and his friend, but one day – when he was strong enough – he was going to go back home and save everyone.

He was going to prove to them that he didn’t run away.

That he wasn’t _afraid_.

He jumped slightly when he suddenly felt the weight of his friend’s hand on his forearm. He shook his head slightly to submerge the sad thoughts before turning his attention back to Hunk with one of his signature smiles planted firmly on his face.

“Say Hunk, why don’t we…”

Lance’s voice was suddenly drowned out by the sound of a loud explosion.

An explosion so loud that it caused nearly every member who was present in the guild to either jump out of their skin, fall out of their chairs, or send nearby tables flying as they tried to duck for cover. When the floor finally stopped shaking, Lance noticed that the somewhat cool temperature of autumn that was floating around before had given way to something that was much, _much_ hotter.

The frost that had previously crawled up his forearms – and would have normally stayed for at least a few more hours at the very least – quickly melted away.

Lance’s ocean blue eyes made contact with Hunk’s hazel and they both ran through the front doors of the guild despite the Samoan boy’s reluctance only moments before. Lance smiled to himself as the pair of them ran down the cobbled streets. It was just like Hunk to spend a good half an hour agonising over the idea of doing something spontaneous, but when it actually came down to it Hunk was one of the first to throw himself into a dangerous place.  

“Do you think you know where it’s coming from?” Hunk huffed under his breath as they pushed their way through crowds of people.

Lance stopped running for a minute prompting the other to stop moving as well; with his hands on his knees and his waist bent in half as he gasped for air. As his friend fought to catch his breath, the young water mage glanced around the swarm of running and panicking people as they all ran in the opposite direction of where Lance and Hunk seemed to be heading.

“Well,” Lance chuckled slightly as he pointed towards the herd of stampeding people, “I’m guessing that over there would be a good start.”

The young rock mage nodded stiffly and hesitantly followed Lance, who began to lead the two of them towards the town square. When they arrived townspeople were still screaming and trying to run away as fast as they could. The aspiring mages’ eyes widened as they saw the bright red and orange flames licking the sides of multiple surrounding buildings and bolts of lightning striking the streets from the sky.

Lance felt the heated wind circulating around them and even felt it difficult to call upon his own magic to keep cool. However, what stunned them more was what seemed to be the source of all this magic. Sitting right on the edge of the middle of the square sat a smaller boy with his knees pulled up to his chest. One of his arms covered his head while the other was out in front of him protectively.

Hesitantly, the eight year old made his way to the huddled figure; the only sound, seemingly, was his footsteps crunching the partially destroyed remains of the nearby buildings. He heard the hesitant footfalls of Hunk’s footsteps from behind him, but signaled for him to stop. Hunk opened his mouth to initially protest, but complied nonetheless.

Lance could tell that the older boy was unnerved by the raven sitting in the scorched, but he was thankful that he listened to him. After a few moments, Lance made it to the small boy’s side and knelt beside him. Now that he was closer, he could see that the boy’s shoulders were trembling, but no sound was coming out.

“Hey,” Lance whispered gently; a hand gently reaching towards the boy, “Are you alright?”

The boy jerked at the sound of his voice and his hand fell away in front of him. Lance glanced up to where the hand was held and his breath hitched slightly when he finally noticed that there was someone _laying there_. The Cuban boy squinted his eyes and he could faintly see that the man in was still breathing. The brunet released his breath and slowly raised his hand to touch the raven’s shoulder. At the sight of the movement, the raven flinched and moved away causing Lance to frown.

“You don’t need to be scared,” The brunet coaxed gently, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

He didn’t know what did it, but the raven slowly raised his head so that they were looking at each other eye to eye. Lance quickly found himself getting lost in a sea of tumultuous indigo; the type of colour that the night sky turned in the coldest winter nights… he had never seen anything like it before.

Next he noticed how pale and thin the other boy was. He knew that if his mama saw someone like this, she would not have hesitated to help this boy. Lance smiled softly to himself at the thought of his mother – it would only be right if he did the same. Plus, judging by the state of his clothing, he must have been travelling a long way.

“The name's Lance, Lance McClain,” He donned his brightest smile, “What’s your name?”

Silence continued to settle upon them.

The raven haired boy just continued to stare at him.

Lance raised an eyebrow and followed the boy’s gaze. He found that the boy was staring at the guild mark that rested on his extended hand. The brown haired boy tilted his head to side curiously before clenching his extended hand so that the outline of the blue lion’s head could be seen better.

“Are you looking at this?”

The quiet boy blinked up at him still just as silent, but his intense gaze seemed to brighten if even so slightly.

Lance was going to count that as a win.

“Are,” He paused for a moment, “are you looking for a guild?”

The raven seemed to tense before nodding his head slowly; the water mage cocked his head at the boy’s silence and ran his hand through his hair,

“Are you scared of me or something?”

The silent boy immediately shook his head frantically and lifted his hand. Lance fought the urge to back away. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t afraid that the raven was going to burn him like he did that man, but some part of him told him that this boy wasn’t going to hurt him.

Just by looking into the boy’s eyes, Lance felt a sense of trust with him that he had only ever felt with Hunk and his family members. Not that he didn’t trust Allura, Coran, Alfor and the others in the Castle of Lions, but that was beside the point – it was a _different_ kind of trust.

Lance continued to look the boy in the eye as his hot hand touched his forearm. For a second, a soft tingling traveled up his arm; it kind of reminded him of one of his limbs falling asleep. He waited anxiously for something to happen; his blood was pounding in his ears and he could feel Hunk watching his back nervously.

_I’m Keith Kogane…_

The young water mage blinked a couple times before he felt his mouth drop open,

“W-Was that you just now?!”

The raven, now known as Keith Kogane, nodded his head before looking away from his inquiring gaze. Keith’s deep indigo eyes suddenly filled with tears and a large cracking noise once again sounded overhead as lightning forked through the sky; Lance felt the hair rise on the back of his neck and his arms.

_I…I thought he was trying to take me away…I couldn’t control it…_

Lance lowered himself to his knees and wrapped a calming hand around the boy’s hand on his forearm; a small amount of steam rising from where their hands touched.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

 _But, I hurt…_ Keith looked away from Lance and bit his lip, _Look what I did…_

Lance found himself looking around the town square once more; taking in the dying flames and the blackened brick walls of the buildings, the uplifted pavement from where the countless lightning strikes made contact, and finally the man lying unconscious on the ground with slight burns wrought on his frame.

But somehow, despite all the destruction…

Despite _everything_ , the one who looked hurt the most was Keith.

Without hesitation, Lance pulled the small raven into his arms and hugged him tightly. He could feel Keith shivering in his arms as the sobs that he was clearly trying to hold back wracked his body.

He didn’t know how, but in that moment…

He knew that everything was going to change.

TBC


	2. Finding Security

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gains a human backpack, some people are just cruel (even IF they might have accidentally gotten burned), and Keith can finally breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dreamworks, Joaquim Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, Mitch Iverson, Benjamin Kaltenecker, and all the other fabulous producers of Voltron own these amazing characters!! <3

Lance kept his arms wrapped around the smaller boy until the nearly blistering wind slowly came to a stop. He noticed that his small frame had stopped shaking and that his breathing had evened out into soft breaths. The young water mage glanced down at the boy and was relieved to see that he had fallen asleep. He turned to Hunk and nodded his head to tell him that everything was alright and he had it under control.

Gingerly, Lance picked the boy up so that he was on his back; his arms were draped loosely around the taller boy’s neck while the brunet held onto the raven’s almost bone thin legs. He raised an eyebrow at how light the raven was and he was certain he could feel his ribcage against his back.

The brunet turned his attention to the older man who had, at some point while he was distracted, started to come to. The man was staring at the two young mages in shock. Lance looked the stranger over and he seemed to be physically fine considering he was just barbequed; if anything he was maybe just a little bit shocked.

“Hey you,” Lance addressed him, “Can you tell me what happened?”

The man blinked at the young mage dumbly for a split second before he glared, “What the hell do _you think happened_ , you little brat? Don’t you have eyes?”

Lance felt the corner of his lips tug downwards in annoyance,

“I was just asking a question…you don’t have to be a jer---”

Suddenly a sharp pain glanced off his shoulder causing him to jump in surprise. He glanced beside him and noticed that Hunk had _finally_ decided to join the conversation. Lance pouted to himself as he adjusted his grip on Keith; he didn’t have to hit him. Lance opened his mouth to tell him as such when he noticed that Hunk wasn’t even paying attention to him.

“I’m sorry about him sir,” Hunk informed the man while waving his hands about frantically, “We just want to know what happened to you so that we can help.”

Lance felt the urge to scowl even more; Hunk truly was too nice sometimes. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his best friend like a brother and he wouldn’t know where he would be without him, but even Hunk had to realize that the man was being unnecessarily rude. Coran had referred to Hunk as a ‘natural pacemaker’ before – whatever that meant. While he was thinking this, the man had relaxed somewhat and ran a hand through his greying chestnut brown hair before speaking.

“I honestly haven’t the slightest clue,” The old man shrugged, “I accidentally knocked him over when he was crossing the street so I offered to help him up. He just kept staring at me with this look; I’ve never seen someone so terrified before.

“Anyways, I told him that we should move and then I would help find his parents, but that just scared him even more. The next thing I knew everything lit up like a candle on a birthday cake.”

Lance and Hunk exchanged glances with each other before looking at the old man again. Lance opened his mouth to say something, but Hunk beat him to it.

“I’m sorry that that happened to you sir,” Hunk rubbed his hands absently, “We’ll take care of him and make sure…”

“But that boy is dangerous!” The man cut him off loudly; his eyes impossibly wide making the marks on his face stand out all the more, “Shouldn’t he be locked up or something?”

The water mage glared at the man and felt a deep anger burrowing in his chest. He instantly felt Hunk’s hand on the side of his jacket trying to stop him from doing anything rash. However, before he could even think about doing anything, a familiar magical pressure reached his senses. Almost instinctually, Lance’s tense posture relaxed causing the boy on his back to slide down slightly; Hunk had even released his hold to look over his shoulder at who was approaching them.

Walking towards them was none other than the second-in-command at the guild; Coran.

“Hello!” Coran called out cheerfully to them as he fiddled with his mustache, “I caught wind that there was something going on about here; is everything alright?”

While Lance and Hunk relaxed at the arrival of the older man, the stranger standing in front of them seemed to scowl even more; if that were possible.

“So he’s one of _yours_ is he?”

Coran’s normally compassionate eyes immediately steeled over and his easy going attitude deteriorated as he approached them. Lance had to resist the urge to flinch away from the ginger haired man --- this was definitely a side to Coran that he wasn’t used to and judging by the grip that Hunk once again had on his jacket, the gentle giant was feeling the same.

“Not yet, no, but I’m sure as soon as Alfor returns we’ll be planning on adding him to the guild. Young mages around his age usually only just awaken to their magical abilities so their emotions control their magic. You probably just scared him or made him nervous.” Coran stated matter of fact-ly.

The other man’s face turned such a dark red that it was almost purple; if Lance didn’t know any better he would think that the man’s head was going to explode.

“That boy should be punished Smythe; I, _along with this entire town_ , could’ve died because of that mo---!”

“I’d stop right there if I were you.” Coran cut him off with a strained smile; his fingers twisting his mustache with one of his eyebrows raised high, “You wouldn’t want to say something you’d regret now would you?”

The man huffed angrily,

“And what makes you think I would regret anything I’d say about that _boy_? What would _you_ do about it?”

He didn’t know what it was, but he really didn’t like the way that the man had emphasized the word ‘boy’ when he spoke about Keith. It made something unpleasant settle in his gut – it made it seem as though Keith wasn’t actually a boy at all…like he was something _worse_. If anything, at least the fire mage wasn’t awake to hear any of this.

Lance wished he could say the same.

Coran sighed and turned to the young mages behind him; causing Lance to refocus on what was happening. The older man’s eye lingered on the water mage and the unconscious fire mage on his back a little longer than what was probably necessary. Lance tilted his head upon noticing that, but he shrugged it off when Coran addressed them,

“Why don’t you boys head back to the guild, hm? And bring our new member to the infirmary so he can get some proper rest.”

The earth and water mages nodded their heads hesitantly; both of them unsure if they actually should leave or not. Lance wasn’t all too comfortable leaving Coran alone to deal with that jerk; even if he couldn’t actually be of help. They turned to leave when Coran spoke again,

“And Lance, m’boy, you’re in charge of watching our guest until I get back.”

The water mage blinked at Coran somewhat dumbfounded before an easy smile spread across his face,

“Sure thing!”

He wasn’t planning on leaving Keith alone for too long anyways.

***

The two mages walked towards the guild in silence; the last of the flames and unbearable heating dissipating into the cooling air. The streets were strangely silent considering the fact that it was just after midday, but Lance was willing to bet that no one was going to leave their houses until they knew that the mages had returned to the guild.

He could tell that Hunk wanted to say something about whatever happened back there, but he wouldn’t actually say anything. Lance could see the slightly older boy opening his mouth to say whatever he wanted to say, only to close it again with a weird whine-like noise – the sound was really starting to grate on Lance’s nerves; though he would never say that out loud.

“What is it Hunk?” Lance sighed out, “Whatever you want to say seems to be bothering you a lot.”

The earth mage pursed his lips in a way that he almost looked as if he was pouting,

“I…It’s nothing really…I guess?”

The brunet stared ahead blankly as he adjusted the dead weight on his back; Keith was starting to get kind of heavy.

“You don’t really sound all too sure there buddy.”

“It’s just,” Hunk gestured through the air uselessly, “What happened out there Lance?”

The water mage paused in his steps,

“What do you mean Hunk? You were there too you know.”

Hunk levelled Lance with the most unimpressed look that one nine year old could possibly give another,

“You know what I’m talking about! I could see that you were having a conversation with him, but I could tell that _he wasn’t talking_. At all.”

Lance knew that Hunk would have noticed something like that.

With how cautious his friend was with everything, he knew that the older boy would be watching him like a hawk – ready to jump in and offer his assistance at any given notice. He just wished that Hunk could’ve waited to bring it up when they were closer to the guild. Lance sighed to himself; then again, he did ask Hunk to tell him what was bothering him.

He really should have been expecting this to be what it was.

Lance searched around them to see if anyone was around; he sighed in relief when he noticed no one was. He walked up to his best so that they were so close to each other that their breaths mingled together,

“I’m going to tell you something, but you can’t tell anyone unless it’s Coran or Alfor alright?”

Hunk frowned slightly in confusion,

“Not even Allura?”

A strangled noise escaped Lance’s throat at the reminder of the white haired girl – how he had managed to suddenly forget about her was a surprise to him.

“Okay, maybe Allura too,” Lance conceded, “I really can’t keep a secret from her now could I?”

A small snort escaped Hunk as he tried (and failed) to keep a small smile from spreading across his face,

“Right…”

“Plus,” Lance continued as if Hunk hadn’t even said anything, “Her dad would probably tell her anyways.”

Hunk’s bottom lip quivered as he turned away slightly,

“Whatever you say buddy.”

Lance narrowed his eyes,

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“N-Nothing!” Hunk shook his head frantically, “Just wondering about what you want to tell me.”

Lance pouted at his friend’s attitude, but quickly shook it off when he noticed that Hunk was truly interested in what he had to say. If anything, the water mage could just get back at him for his comments later. The brunet leaned into his friend almost conspiratorially as he whispered into the taller boy’s ear,

 “He actually can’t talk, I think something’s wrong with his voice; but he touched my arm and I heard his voice in _my head_.”

Hunk stared at him for a moment with wide eyes,

“But, it’s impossible for someone to do that.”

“I know that Hunk,” Lance stared up at his friend with wide eyes, “But I am telling you that that’s what happened.”

If he were to mention this to anyone else, they would probably laugh in his face or say that he was making stuff up to get attention; he could even admit that it would’ve been something that he’d say in order to get people to pay attention to him and listen to what he has to say.

But Hunk was different.

Lance knew that his best friend would always believe him no matter what he said.

So when the earth mage stared at him silently for a few seconds, with indecisiveness in his eyes for an even less amount of time, only for his eyes to start sparkling with interest he knew that his friend was _hooked_. Within seconds, he could tell that his friend was absolutely bursting with questions that he wanted answered.

Not that Lance could actually answer them or anything.

Before Hunk could even begin his slew of questioning (that Lance would not be able to answer), the sound of chattering met Lance’s ears. The brunet felt the raven shiver against his back and bury himself deeper into the warmth provided by Lance’s back. He shifted Keith a little before turning to his best friend once more,

“We should get to the guild; he’s getting cold.”

At his words, Hunk immediately calmed down and sealed whatever questions he had away. As Lance was about to take a step forward, he felt another weight settle onto his back – though it didn’t affect his ability to carry Keith too much. The water mage glanced at his back from the corner of his eye and saw that Hunk had placed his own jacket on top of Keith to act as a shield from the rapidly cooling air.

“Not that you weren’t doing a great job yourself,” Hunk shrugged his shoulders, “Just thought he could use some extra layers.”

Lance couldn’t stop the fond smile from spreading across his face as the three of them started their way towards the guild once more.

Hunk truly was the best friend that anyone could ask for…

And Lance was so lucky that Hunk had chosen _him_.

***

He didn’t even know he had fallen asleep until he found himself looking up at a wooden ceiling.

Keith shot forward instantly and began to scan his unfamiliar surroundings; the last he knew, he was supposed to be outside. He thought back to that terrifying moment when he burned the buildings and the man, and he remembered a very cool, but comforting presence.

As he thought harder, he was able to conjure an image of a tanned boy with wavy brown hair and warm, blue eyes. His brow furrowed as he tried to think of the boy’s name, but he couldn’t come up with it at the moment. The raven clutched the blankets that were covering him in his fists and slowly pushed himself off the bed. He started to make his way to the wooden door on the other side of the room when a loud, but familiar, voice stopped him.

“You’re awake!”

Keith turned rapidly and found himself staring at the brown haired boy from earlier. The boy’s eyes were watching him curiously, much like they had when he had found him in the town square. The raven rubbed his dirty hair nervously and glanced away from those inquiring eyes before slowly walking towards the boy.

As he approached, he hesitantly raised one of his hands and stopped about a meter in front of the slightly taller boy; with shaky fingers Keith touched the boy’s tanned skin,

_Where am I? And…uh… who are you? Again…_

The brunet cocked his head to the side for a moment before laughing softly,

“I don’t think I’m going to get used to you doing that.”

Keith frowned at the fact that his question wasn’t answered and was about to ask again when the boy cut him off.

“Anyways, as I said earlier, the name’s Lance and as for where you are, well, you’re at the Altea Inn.”

_Altea…_

Keith hadn’t even realized that he was still touching Lance’s arm until he noticed the boy nodding,

“You were looking for a guild right?”

Keith blinked a couple times before he nodded his head hesitantly.

Just as he was going to ask more questions, the doors of the room burst open causing him to retract his hands and back away. He felt a hand clasp on his arm and he panicked prepared to call upon his magic when the brunet’s cool touch seemed to wrap him up like a soothing blanket. Keith turned his head and saw that Lance was watching him with something that kind of looked like worry.

He fought back a wince as the look immediately brought his brother to mind.

The raven subtly shook the thoughts away and brushed his fingers along Lance’s softly,

_I’m okay._

He felt Lance release him, but was happy when the brunet remained by his side. His deep indigo eyes went back to the door and saw that a tall, dark haired boy and an older man with bright orange hair and mustache were standing quite still. The older man was the first to approach Keith and he once again felt a sense of apprehensiveness; but it was quickly chased away when a warm smile spread across the man’s face.

As Keith looked closer, he couldn’t help but notice the faint lines that lingered by the man’s eyes. That usually meant that someone smiled a lot, right?

“Hello m’boy,” The man said with a wink and a twirl of his mustache, “My name is Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe and I’m the advisor of this guild; what’s your name?”

Keith gnawed on his bottom lip as he watched the older man carefully. This _Coran_ seemed harmless, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he could trust this stranger with his secret. The raven found himself glancing back at the brunet again.

Luckily, Lance noticed his stare and smiled at him before squeezing his forearm. Keith stepped toward the so-called advisor with a little more confidence and touched the closest patch of skin he could touch; the tips of the man’s fingers.

_Keith._

The smile on Coran’s face suddenly widened and his eyes started to sparkle so much that Keith was sure that they would start glowing.

“Well then number three, that is some talent you have there; how long have you had it?”

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion,

_Number Thr…_

Lance’s snicker reached his ears which prompted heat to flash across Keith’s face. He glanced back at the clearly laughing boy and couldn’t help but wonder how Lance knew what he was thinking.

“Coran is really bad with names,” The brunet explained with a small smile, “So he likes to give us nicknames.”

Keith found himself reaching out to Lance and touching his forearm once more,

_How’d you…_

“Know what you were thinking?” Lance wriggled an eyebrow teasingly, “Your face really says a lot Keith, even if you don’t.”

Before he could respond, a loud growl erupted from Keith’s stomach causing his cheeks to burn even hotter. The others in the room laughed causing him to be even more embarrassed; if that was even possible. He shuffled his feet and glared at the floor as if blaming it for not doing what is meant to do – which was swallow him whole.

“So Number Three, before we get you something to eat, what do you think about joining our little family?”

Keith glanced up from the floor and stared at Coran in confusion,

_Joining…your family?_

He hadn’t realized that his fingers brushed against Lance’s arm again as he said this.

“We may be a guild,” The taller boy whispered as he squeezed Keith’s fingers in return, “but we’re also a family; we stand by each other’s side, help each other and love each other just as much as a family should.”

“Lance’s right,” The other boy, who was silent up until now, agreed, “We may not be related through blood, but we are related through our connections and of magic.”

Keith glanced between the three people in the room; his words failing him.

 “So are you gonna join?” Lance asked with a bright smile, “It would be great to have someone else to spar with. Don’t get me wrong, Hunk is great and all, but he’s not really the fighting type – no offense buddy.”

The other boy, who must be Hunk, Keith realized just laughed good naturedly,

“None taken buddy, you wouldn’t exactly be wrong.”

Keith stared at the two dark haired boys as they continued to chat excitedly and Lance started to move around frantically. He chuckled as Lance almost tripped over his own feet and ran into a nearby wall.

The raven returned his attention to Coran who was watching him patiently. After a moment, when he was sure that he had in fact made eye contact with the man, he nodded his head hesitantly.

“Alright, I’ll leave you with Lance and Hunk for now and they’ll show you around while I organize a few things for you.”

Keith nodded in confirmation, although somewhat trance-like, and walked over to the two other boys once more. He was aware of Coran smiling at him, but he just chose to ignore it. He pulled on Lance’s white shirt sleeve in order to gain his attention and he succeeded in doing so. The brunet smiled at him and nudged him towards Hunk who suddenly wrapped the two of them into a hug with Hunk positioned firmly in the middle.

“Just in case you didn’t catch on, this teddy bear is Hunk,” Lance told him with a bright smile, “And Hunk, this is Keith.”

Somehow, Hunk managed to smile just as brightly as Lance had – Keith swore he was going to go blind from it.

“Hello Keith,” The larger boy tightened his grip, “Welcome to the family.”

And it was at that moment, that he _felt it_.

For the first time in a long time, he felt that he might _finally_ have a place to call home…

Even if it was just for a little while.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Minna!~
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!! :D <3   
> I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters (especially Coran) -- I never thought he would be so difficult to write LOL  
> And I'm sorry if you found the chapter boring or that Lance, Hunk, and Keith DO NOT sound like 8/9 year olds -- I might have struggled with that a bit too...  
> Luckily they won't be staying that age for that much longer!
> 
> And don't worry, other beloved characters will be making their appearances soon, I PROMISE!!
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


	3. Ten Years, New Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The GALRA Organisation has resurfaced, and a new face finds themselves in front of the Castle of Lions -- what could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait Minna!~  
> And sorry if none of this makes sense! I truly tried and I hope you don't mind the OOC-ness!  
> Thanks for reading!

Finally…

After ten years, it was finally complete; she could now continue her research after that  _ monster _ destroyed the lab the first time. 

Because of that damn beast the GALRA Organization ended up losing three of their key experiments which definitely pushed their deadline back. Her Lord was so close to unraveling the secret all those years ago, but at this point the idea now seemed unattainable. 

One of the experiments was deceased.

Two were missing.

Although, the one that died wasn’t a total loss; he was only there to keep the other two in line.

She secured her pure white coat tighter around herself when a cold, northern draft blew through the dank corridors. The climate may be an important part of her research, but she could definitely do without the cold weather. She moved down the vacant hall to her study so she could drown herself in maps and research once more. 

Those two brats just had to be alive, they just had to damnit! 

They were the strongest out of the experiments and the most stubborn ones at that. 

They were fighters.

She sat behind her desk and gathered the new pile of files in front of her; the pile consisted of the old files that they used to keep track of the experiments and their progress. A few of the experiments were terminated because they were too weak to handle the tests, some were killed during the Attack and some most likely died of starvation or the cold. 

She grabbed one of the old tattered files and started to leaf through it; a promising smile spread across her face as she read the familiar contents.

“Patient #53484…” She murmured, “and Patient #74476, just where did you run off to?”

A timid knock on her door pulled her out of her thoughts. She gently put the file aside and made herself respectable before asking whoever was on the other side of the door to come in. A tall, lumbering man burst into the room with purposeful strides; his mechanical arm whirring as he approached.

“What is it that you need Sendak?” She demanded tersely, “I do have projects to complete.”

The man stared down at the seated woman with a guarded expression, but unmistakable fire burning in his eyes.

“I thought that you would be interested to know that the Champion has been found.”

She felt something like victory settle in her chest even as the question tumbled from her lips,

“And?”

“I am requesting to apprehend him and return him to the Facilities; he may have managed to escape once, but I sure as hell won’t let it happen again.” Sendak growled as he clenched his mechanical hand into a fist. 

“Request granted,” She smiled toothily, “It’s time that the Key and our Champion return home.”

Sendak turned towards the door to start his journey only to freeze in his tracks,

“Did you just say the Key?”

“Don’t waste time questioning me on matters that do not concern you Sendak.” She waved him off and returned her focus back to her work, “Just know that wherever the Champion is, the Key is sure to be within reach.”

Sendak’s eyes seemed to sweep over her form before he swept his arms into the customary GALRA salute,

“Vrepit sa, Lady Haggar.”

As the large man finally left her study and shut the door behind him, Haggar raised the mostly destroyed files that she had previously chucked aside in annoyance. 

“Finally Lord Zarkon, the time is upon us.”

VLDVLDVLD

Pidge Gunderson couldn’t suppress their annoyance as they finally reached the town of Arus. They’ve been traveling for a couple days now and they never thought that they were going to get there, but they finally did. 

Pidge couldn’t move from their spot in the middle of the street as they stared up at the building emblazoned with the Castle of Lions insignia. They could hear loud voices coming from inside, but they wasn’t really paying attention to it; all that mattered was finding the information they needed to find their brother and father who had been unceremoniously taken from them ten years ago.

The auburn-haired plant mage glared at the large ornate doors and couldn’t help but sigh. Getting into The Castle of Lions was the only thing stopping them from making a fast escape back to her hometown, where it was safe and quiet. 

The mage was snapped out of their thoughts when the doors suddenly burst open causing them to stumble backwards; nearly falling onto their ass. They were about to start cursing up a storm at the rude assholes who did not think to watch where they’re going when a petulant voice cut them off  mid-rant. 

“But Allura, do we  _ have _ to go on such a pointless mission? I mean, all those villagers need is a little bottle of Repellent and then they’d be right as rain.”

“Lance,” A somewhat exasperated voice stated, “You just said yesterday that you were bored and wanted to go on a mission; now you suddenly want to change your mind?”

“Well a man can change his mind can’t he?” 

“Uh huh,” A new voice said almost teasingly, “And this change of mind would have nothing to do with the fact that Keith is supposed to be returning home today?”

Pidge glanced up in time to see a tall, lanky boy with tanned skin stuttering; cheeks bright red as he poked a larger boy, who was quite honestly built like a house, on the chest. They noticed a slim girl standing a little off from the other two boys with her hands folded over her chest; her platinum blonde hair pulled into a neat bun and an amused smile on her face.

“Excuse you,” The tanned boy sputtered, “ _ That Mullet _ has nothing to do with this! I couldn’t care less about when he is supposed to return!” 

Alright, Pidge didn’t even know this guy or that Keith guy and they could even tell that was a blatant lie. 

“Oh Lance,” The girl rolled her eyes almost fondly, “When are you going to stop with this whole rivalry business? I’ve known you both for years and it’s quite obvious that you care for Keith’s well-being as much as he cares for yours.”

“Pfft,” The tanned boy,  _ Lance _ , scoffed derisively and muttered, “He sure has a shitty way of showing it.”

Pidge’s eyebrow twitched comically as they sweatdropped; this wasn’t exactly what they were expecting when they came to The Castle of Lions. Before they could even say anything though, they immediately felt a few gazes burning into them. They adjusted the wire-rimmed glasses on their face and glanced towards where the stares seemed to be coming from.

It was honestly no surprise to see that the stares were coming from the three teens/adults standing in front of them. 

“Uh hello?” The tallest boy of the group asked in bafflement, “How long have you been sitting there?”

The plant mage shrugged before answering,

“You’re the ones who knocked me over when you opened the door, so you tell me.”

The other three mages continued to stare at them in silence before Lance snorted,

“I never thought I’d meet someone as salty as Keith; this is gold.”

Pidge scowled at the trio before pushing themselves to their feet. The other boy must have noticed as he had immediately reached forward to grab onto their forearms and pull them to their feet. 

“So, the name’s Hunk,” The boy introduced himself, “the overdramatic one is Lance…”

“I  _ resent that _ !” Lance interrupted somewhat shrilly and therefore proving Hunk’s point; but was promptly ignored.

“And the girl is Allura, the daughter of the Master of the Castle of Lions.”

“Hunk,” The girl, Allura, pouted slightly, “Do you seriously have to say that every time you introduce me?”

Hunk shrugged his shoulders,

“Well it’s who you are isn’t it?”

Allura laughed in exasperation before approaching Pidge herself and offering her hand,

“It’s nice to meet you…”

“Pidge,” They offered as they raised a tentative hand, “Pidge Gunderson.”

“Pidge,” Allura smiled almost knowingly, “Welcome to the Castle of Lions.”

A strange, giddy feeling spread through Pidge that they quickly suppressed. There was no time for them to finally realise who exactly they were talking to and where they were standing. Finding their Dad and Matt were much more important. 

“So Pidge, what brings you to the Castle of Lions?”

“Actually, I need to speak to the Master of your G…”

They weren’t even able to get the words out of their mouth, before they were interrupted by an intense presence creeping up behind them. Pidge immediately raised their guard and turned towards the oppressive presence only to see a yawning, dark haired teen slowly approaching the group. 

The boy had his hands shoved deep in his pockets and walked towards the guild silently; absently waving at those who said hi to him as he passed them on the street. He seemed to lift his head instinctively to look at the Guild and Pidge watched in interest as the tiredness immediately left his gaze and an almost mischievous countenance appeared. 

They followed his gaze and realized that his indigo eyes were locked on Lance’s now vibrating figure. They watched as the approaching male brought his hands together and a bright red magic circle appeared before his clenched palms. 

Before they had a chance to open their mouth or even process what was happening, five spear-like tendrils of fire flew out of his hands and aimed to strike the lanky brunet in the middle of the street. Without preamble, Lance immediately completed a few of his own hand signs and smirked competitively at the teen that attacked him. 

A playful laugh erupted from his lips as a wall of water immediately sprung from the pavement and extinguished the flames into a screen of steam,

“You wanna go Mullet?” He shouted at the raven.

“Mullet?” Pidge found themselves repeating as Lance had canceled his defence and instead went on the offence.

Pidge was even more confused when the other boy simply nodded confidently and went on the defense. Their shoulders slumped in disbelief as they realized that they were going to fight each other right then and there. 

Another exasperated sigh was torn from Allura who was now watching the boys. Pidge was beginning to wonder if eating, fighting and sleeping were the only things that these mages knew how to do. They heard Hunk’s light laughter from their other side. They looked at the larger boy blankly.

“That would be Keith,” Hunk explained as he watched his friends, “You know, the salty one that Lance compared you to?”

They must have made some indication that they were listening because Hunk continued on,

“This happens a lot, but they should be done soon though; even after just coming back from a mission, Keith always somehow manages to win.”

“Why even bother then?” Pidge asked, “If Lance always loses I mean?”

Hunk just shrugged,

“I think it’s just how they communicate the best.”

Pidge opened their mouth to ask what he could have meant by that, but Allura’s voice cut them off.

“Lance and Keith, knock it off before you destroy the town  _ again _ ! Do we really need the villagers to be annoyed with the guild anymore than they already are?”

Pidge’s jaw dropped open when the boys immediately stopped what they were doing; it was as if they hadn’t even been fighting. The boys slowly made their way back over to Allura, Hunk and Pidge and they noticed that the two mages actually stuck pretty close to each other. 

So close that their forearms were practically brushing; what was with that? 

“So Pidge,” Lance’s voice drew their attention away from their thoughts and to what was happening in front of them, “As Allura asked earlier, what brings you to the Castle of Lions?”

For what had to be the hundredth time that day, Pidge found themselves at a loss for words. They knew why they were at the Castle of Lions. They knew what they had to ask the Master of the Guild, but this time they had found their attention drawn to the raven haired teen standing next to Lance.

The raven was slighter than the water mage and had a much paler skin tone. In fact they would wager that he was almost paler than them which was rare in itself. His eyes were by far his most interesting feature, if they had any knowledge or background in that sort of thing; a deep indigo that rivaled a river in the winter months. 

There was just something about him that seemed  _ familiar _ somehow.

And even with their near eidetic memory, they couldn’t place  _ where  _ they could have seen him before.

“Uh, this is Keith,” Lance interrupted their thoughts again as he must have noticed their stare, “And Mullet, this is Pidge; they just appeared outside the Guild a little before you came back.”

The raven scowled at them almost thoughtfully before nodding in greeting. Pidge’s eyebrows scrunched together at the odd greeting causing Lance to laugh awkwardly; prompting them to return their attention to him,

“Sorry forgot to tell you that he can’t exactly talk…but don’t let his scary face fool you, he’s a softy at heart.”

The raven rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. He stared at Lance for a moment before turning away and leaving abruptly; walking through the front doors of the guild. Lance seemed to have some sort of understanding with him because he was still smiling, but Pidge was confused. As they watched the raven’s retreating back and the chaos exploding through the guild as the doors opened to reveal the inside, they has come to one conclusion…

Everyone at this bloody guild was most likely insane.

VLDVLDVLD

Keith sighed as he made his way through the rambunctious guild hall and through the backdoor to sit himself next to the river that Lance, Allura, Hunk and himself used to fight at when they were younger. 

Well mostly him and Lance, but he digresses.

He always loved this place because it was so calming and everything just breathed life. The raven forced back another yawn as he pillowed his head in his arms when he laid in the grass. He hadn’t been sleeping very well lately and he didn’t really know why.

He was hoping that going on a mission would help sort out his nerves and his frustration, but it didn’t seem to help.

He never remembered his dreams, but he had a fairly good guess on what they could be about. It was getting close to the date his entire life changed, so of course his subconscious is trying to warn him. The fire mage closed his eyes and let his mind wander to the new mage from outside the Guild Hall, Pidge.

There was just something that tickled at the back of his memory when he looked at them…

But he had no clue what it could be.

“Keith my boy,” A voice called, “What are you doing out here? Did you and Lance get into another spat?”

The raven couldn’t help but chuckle at the accented voice before sitting up to look at him. The mustached, ginger man he knew from ten years ago had not changed in the slightest. Keith patted the patch of grass beside him to indicate to the older man that he could sit if he wanted to. Keith placed his fingers on the patch of skin that was revealed because of Coran’s purposefully rolled up sleeves. 

The Advisor to the Guild probably rolled them up when he saw him storm through the hall. 

_ Nah, the Sharpshooter is just being himself…  _ He shrugged before smiling softly.

The older mage regarded his shortest charge carefully before he spoke,

“What’s the problem with that?”

_ Nothing,  _ Keith told him,  _ At least I don’t think so? _

Coran hummed under his breath and twiddled his mustache, 

“You don’t sound too sure of that my boy.”

_ Well he introduced me to someone…and you know how I get... _

Coran was very aware of what Keith was getting at -- everyone was aware after all. When it came to meeting new people, it was common knowledge that Keith would in a sense shut down. He wasn’t the best in social situations, and everyone accepted that.

Including Lance McClain.

For two people who were closer than blood, depended on one another and understood one another, they sure had a lot of misunderstandings.

“Keith I doubt that Lance would ever be angry with any shortness that you may have displayed,” Coran told him softly, “He knows that you don’t like ‘talking’ to new people and would never be angry with you for wanting to escape.”

The raven had to concede to that much,

_ Yeah… I guess… _

“You don’t guess, you know.” Coran thumped his back roughly, “What do you say we head back into the guild and relax; you just got back from a long mission didn’t you?”

Keith nodded before pushing himself to his feet; squeezing Coran’s forearm in thanks before making his way back into the hall. Side by side the mages walked to the back door of the guild; Coran muttering absently about how Kaltenecker, their Guild’s cow and protector, was doing. Keith nodded as though he were listening and opened the door for them to enter. However, when he opened the door he accidentally ran into someone and grabbed their shoulders to steady them.

_ Sorry… _

“Oh my god…”

Keith felt Coran tense by his side and he felt his own blood run cold. He forced himself to look at the person he ran into and his fears were confirmed when his indigo eyes met amber. Their eyes were wide and staring.

_ Oh quiznak. _

TBC


	4. You Can Never Escape The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance laments over his poor decision making, Pidge learns of Keith's talent, the Aftermath, and what happens when you can no longer run from the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Minna!~
> 
> Here is a new chapter for you, and it is a DOOSY!  
> I apologise for how big it is and I am sorry for any plot holes/inconsistencies in character LOL I tried, truly I did!  
> Posted in celebration of S5! xxx
> 
> Thank you!

Was there ever going to be a moment where he didn’t put his foot in his mouth?

He felt like the biggest idiot ever.

How in the hell had he forgotten that Keith couldn’t speak?! 

It was only for like a tick, but he did.

They’ve only been best friends for the past ten years and were practically one being. The villagers even said they were in all sense and purposes brothers. He slammed his head into the palms of his hands and groaned in frustration as the ‘inherent idiocy’ that Keith always seemed to tease him for reared its ugly head.

He had to admit that Keith had come a long way since joining the guild all those years ago; he transformed from a completely reclusive, touch averting, hot head into a somewhat naive, hot headed teen who also happened to be one of the strongest mages in The Castle of Lions. 

Even at the lowest parts of his life, Lance always found a way to stick by Keith’s side. 

Even if Keith spent a great deal of his time trying to pull away.

Lance has always felt that he was born to protect; it was practically instinct. No matter what town he visited or who he met, he always had this need to protect them. When he was younger, before his birth-village was destroyed, Lance made it his duty to protect his siblings and his family. Even when his magic had just manifested, he made it his goal to use it to protect those who could not protect themselves.

It was how Hunk and himself had become friends.

Alfor had even said that his innate qualities and drive to protect others, was one of the reasons why he had agreed to house him under the seal of the Castle of Lions.

He didn’t believe the man at the time; after all, in the end he wasn’t strong enough to protect his loved ones from destruction.

In the end, he wasn’t able to protect Alfor either; but, that’s another story for another time.

The first time that he felt that he had a purpose again after the attack...

The first time that he felt as though he could and would eventually amount to something...

It was when Keith’s magical presence exploded into his very world and consumed it -- now, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Keith was one of the most important people in his life.

Not that anyone would ever catch him saying that aloud. 

Lance sighed at his thoughts and leaned against the wall of the guild. His sharp gaze swept around himself as he realised that he had once again trapped himself in his thoughts. Allura was now gone from the scene, as was the other mage Pidge, but Hunk had in fact remained by his side -- sturdy as always. 

“There you are buddy,” Hunk smiled as he placed a grounding hand on his shoulder, “I was beginning to wonder if we lost you there for a moment.”

“Nah, I’m alright man,” Lance tapped the back of his head against the wall he was leaning against softly as he shifted his gaze to the azure sky. 

“You know he won’t be mad at you right?”

Lance’s eyebrows furrowed at the statement,

“Huh?”

Hunk stared at the lankier male blankly,

“You know, Keith? He won’t be mad at you for what just happened.”

The brown haired male found himself sighing again as he looked at his other best friend. A small smile formed on his lips as he looked at his usually anxious friend. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“But,” Hunk continued; motioning to the shut guild doors, “He probably wouldn’t mind some sort of explanation you know? He’s probably just as frustrated with himself as you are.”

Lance hummed and nodded his head in agreement. He knew that Hunk wasn’t going to be wrong about that one. As much as Keith would be annoyed with Lance for ‘forgetting’ about mutism, he would be somehow more annoyed with the fact that he was mute in the first place. 

Keith was just plain weird like that.

“Thanks Hunk,” Lance smiled gratefully, “I truly don’t know what I would do without you sometimes.”

The stone mage chuckled good naturedly and thumped the water mage on the back,

“You’d probably stumble around more than usual.”

Lance squawked in protest as he pushed himself off the wall so that he could finally go search for Keith. With Allura handling Pidge for the moment, it would definitely give him more than enough time to smooth things over with the mullet-headed teen. He opened the doors to the grand, white guild hall when Pidge nearly mowed him over. 

He only caught a glimpse of them as they ran by, but he was pretty sure that they looked absolutely terrified; not that he was fluent in the ways of Pidge or any thing. 

Before he could even think more about it, Keith’s conflicted and clearly  _ distraught  _ emotions exploded into his mind, effectively giving him a head rush and making the world spin. He glanced into the guild searching for his friend when he saw the fire mage running towards him.

Well, if he was more precise, towards the outside. 

The pure panic could be seen on his pale face, and the overwhelming emotions were starting to give even Lance a headache as they bounced around his mind. Usually he was thankful for the fact that he could feel Keith’s emotions without having to physically touch him like everyone else -- but it was moments like this where he wished that he couldn’t. 

_ Dios _ , with the way that Keith’s emotions kept climbing, he was surprised that the temperature...

…And there it went…

“Mullet!” The brunet latched onto the raven’s forearm as he was about to run past him and into the crowded streets.

_ Not now Lance!  _  He shouted frantically; trying to tug his arm out the water mage’s grip,  _ I have to stop them! _

Lance stood firm and gritted his teeth as he called on his own magic. If he didn’t balance Keith soon, the hot head was going to rain fire down on the village  _ again _ and this time, they might not be as forgiving.

“Not until you calm down and tell me what is going on Keith,” He ground out, “I know you’re a hot head, but this seems to be a little dramatic; even for you.”

_ Dramatic?!  _ Keith sputtered defensively; effectively freezing in his movements,  _ I don’t even want to hear that coming from you! You wrote the quiznak-ing grimoire on dramatics! Just let me go, please! _

Lance rolled his eyes and ignored the comment as he tightened his grip on the fire mage’s arm; despite the fact that he knew that the fight was slowly leaving Keith based solely on the plea that was all but whispered into his mind. Lance squared his shoulders and kept his eyes resolutely on the male standing in front of him,

“I’m not letting go until you chill and tell me what the quiznak is going on.”

Keith noticeably flinched at Lance’s tone which caused the briefly quenched guilt to fire up again. Lance grimaced apologetically and released the raven when he felt the temperature in the air slowly returning to normal. He shifted his gaze to Hunk who was still standing beside them through this entire fiasco; his dark eyes shining with some sort of calculated-ness. 

It was the look he always got when he was trying to build something.

The water mage opened his mouth to address the stone mage, when the fire mage effectively cut him off,

_ They know. _

Lance raised an eyebrow in confusion,

“Who is ‘they’ and what do ‘they’ know?”

“Uh Lance,” Hunk cleared his throat, “Uh, you know Pidge just came running out of the guild hall.”

The brunet’s eyes widened before he pursed his lips in thought,

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

The answer was quite obviously, ‘clearly not’ as Keith took that opportunity to smack Lance up-side the back of his head causing him to hiss in pain,

“WHAT THE HELL KEITH?! YOU DIDN’T NEED TO HIT ME!”

_ Well then don’t make such dumbass comments, dumbass!  _

“Well if you would just TELL ME…”

_ THEY FOUND OUT ON ACCIDENT LANCE AND THEN RAN AWAY LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL, WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT MEANS?! _

Everything around Lance froze as if he had unknowingly unleashed the ice aspect of his water magic. His heart started beating wildly in his chest as he thought of the terrified expression he thought he saw on Pidge’s face. 

“Quiznak…”

“Uh why are you guys making those faces?” Hunk asked; nervousness taking over his voice, “I really don’t like the looks on your faces…don’t forget not all of us can hear what Keith is saying Lance…”

Lance swallowed thickly,

“Pidge found out about Keith and ran off…”

If possible, Hunk paled even more,

“That’s bad right? That’s really bad isn’t it?”

“It’s not ideal,” Lance conceded as he already started to adjust his grip on Keith’s forearm and started running towards the Village centre; the raven mage now being dragged behind him in their haste, “But we can still fix this -- calm her down and explain things to her.”

Lance shot a glance at Keith over his shoulder,

“At least if you’re alright with that?”

Keith pursed his lips and nodded his head; shaking his arm out from underneath Lance’s grip and instead latching onto his fingers so that they could run at a more evenly matched pace while still keeping the link of communication open. 

_ Allura said she had to grab a few things from her father’s office and then she would help us find her too. _

“A-Allura is coming too?” Hunk stuttered out from behind them, “Why do I have a feeling that this is going to end badly?”

Lance wasn’t going to deny that the requip mage was a terrifying sight to behold, but he knew that Allura wouldn’t try to hurt Pidge. 

At least not on purpose.

_ That’s not funny Lance,  _ Keith rolled his eyes,  _ I should’ve just explained things in the first place; we could have avoided all of this. _

Lance didn’t have a chance to rebuttal as he saw Pidge in the distance; their auburn hair flapping in the wind. It looked as though Allura had somehow made it there before them as well. Her staff placed casually at her side; an open expression on her face. 

The boys picked up their speed and joined the pair in time for them to hear Pidge ask Allura:

“What the hell is going on here?”

Lance gnawed on his lip and approached Pidge placatingly, staring into their amber eyes. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew that they would be able to trust them; they just had to explain everything first. 

“Pidge,” He called their attention from Allura, “I need you to trust us.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on one of their hips,

“Oh, and why would I want to do that?”

“Because,” Lance shuffled on his feet uneasily, “Uh…”

“I’m listening.”

For the first time in a long time, Lance felt his words failing him. Why would Pidge want to trust them? Why would they have to? It was obvious that they did not owe them anything; so what could Lance possibly say to get them to listen to what they had to say?

“Because you came to the Castle of Lions for a reason.”

Everyone’s heads turned towards Hunk, who was standing there somewhat confidently; something burning in his eyes.

“You came to the Castle for a reason,” He repeated; swallowing dryly when he felt everyone’s eyes on him, “If you want to trust us with whatever you came here for, you have to trust us with this; it’s only logical.”

The shortest mage stared at the stone mage evenly; their shoulders tense for a brief moments before finally relaxing. Pidge slowly nodded their head in acknowledgement before moving towards Lance and Keith. Lance moved to step out of the way only for a couple of Keith’s pale fingers to discreetly latch onto the sleeve of Lance’s jacket.

He glanced at the unnerved fire mage out of the corner of his eye and waited for them to make eye contact. When they did, Lance nodded at him encouragingly and let small, soothing winds brush against Keith in an effort to calm him down. After a few moments, Keith himself also started to relax and dropped his guard ever so slightly.

“So,” Pidge stopped walking as they stood in front of the two boys, “What kind of magic is it that you use? It is extremely rare for mages to have more than one type of magic; typically if a mage has extra abilities, that means that it is simply an extension of a core that they already possess.”

Keith ducked down into the collar of his red jacket at Pidge’s inquisitive, yet analytical tone. Lance fought back the need to bristle his feathers as it were, and waited for the smaller mage to continue. 

He really needed to work on this whole overprotective streak he had when it came to Keith…

Like seriously.

When it seemed that Pidge wasn’t going to say anything else, Lance found himself clearing his throat and drawing their attention to him. 

“Listen Pidge,” Lance started, “I don’t know if he can actually give you the answers that you are looking for.”

“Oh yeah?” They seemed to pout, “And why is that?”

Lance glanced from Keith to Allura to Hunk and back to Keith with slight hesitation,

“It’s just...”

Keith tugged on Lance’s sleeve just then asking him to stop talking. Lance glanced down those few inches that he lorded over his friend, and raised an eyebrow. Instead of giving him an answer, Keith released his grip and instead approached Pidge himself; his hand extended.

Their amber eyes seemed to meet Keith’s indigo ones, and Lance could see the unease in them. Out of everyone who had had the chance to experience Keith’s talent, this had to be the worst reactions that he had ever witnessed. Keith was about to place his hand on their forearm when a dark, suffocating presence suddenly pressed down upon all of them.

Keith seemed to jump as if he had been electrocuted by one of Hunk’s creations and his face turned as green as Coran’s did when he ate that spoiled goo. Lance found himself instinctively moving towards Keith once more as a harsh, warm wind started to sweep through Arus; taking out whatever moisture there was in the air. He glanced at Allura and noticed that her eyes were narrowed and her staff was raised in front of her in an offensive stance.

The ground underneath their feet started to rumble slightly as the Darkness pressing upon them seemed to thicken. Lance couldn’t help but turn towards Hunk for answers, but he could tell that he was just as unsettled by the earth shifting as he was. 

It was at this time that Lance noticed how still the street actually was; it was far too quiet. 

An eerie mist filled the street so that the five mages could barely see five meters in front of them. Despite the tension from moments ago, they were now standing back to back, prepared to lash out at what was threatening to attack them. 

However, Lance couldn’t help but be thrown off by the trembling fire mage at his side. In the past, no matter the situation that they found themselves in, Keith was almost always the confident, driving force. If there was ever a hint of fear within the group, just being around someone as assured as Keith was a godsend. 

But at this moment; standing back to back and side to side against this mysterious magic…

Keith was  _ terrified _ .

And the only time that Lance had seen Keith this scared was when they were children.

Back when Keith would sneak into his room at the Guild Housing and hide underneath the blankets with him. Sure he would pout about it, and deny that he was scared and seeking comfort… but eventually he opened up to Lance.

Eventually he told him about the nightmares and the shadows of his past that used to plague him every night. 

Never in much detail -- but enough to know that whenever they haunted him, Keith would turn into someone that no one in the guild would be able to recognise. 

“Mullet,” He whispered tensely; not wanting to voice the words that wanted to spill out, “Keith, do you know what’s going on?”

The fire mage’s back stiffened as he gave a nod and brought his hands together reflexively; his magic swirling in his hands,

“Don’t even think about it #53484,” A deep voice drawled, “You know what will happen if you try anything.”

Keith flinched at the voice but still continued to draw his magic. Lance stared at his closest friend in horror as the Fire incantation flowed into his mind like a whispered secret. Unwittingly, the cry burst from his lips, 

“NO!”

But the cry did nothing to stop the fiery wall from erupting beneath their feet and circling around them; the hot flames liking the darkening sky.

VLDVLDVLDVLD

Keith kept his back turned to his comrades, no, his  _ family _ ; he knew that if he were to look into their eyes, he would see the betrayal and the abandonment. 

He knew that those were the looks he deserved, but he couldn’t bear to see that look on Lance’s face; it would definitely kill the only resolve that he had. Just as his fire magic was activated, the mist surrounding them disappeared and he was finally  able to see the source of the voice.

One of the voices that had haunted his memories for more than ten years.

“Ah, it seems like 53484 has learned a few new tricks,” The man, Sendak, smirked; his bionic eye staring at him calculatedly, “A fighter ‘til the end I see.”

The raven glared at the dark haired man standing before him. 

Even after ten years the bastard hadn’t changed a bit. 

The same hawk-like yellow eye contrasting his bionic red, and black Celtic tattoos framing his face and single flesh forearm; the other having been replaced with a highly advanced prosthetic.

It looks as though Keith wasn’t the only one to have received an upgrade.

“Who the quiznak are you?” Lance demanded from behind him, “What do you want with Keith?”

Keith forced back a flinch at the sound of Lance’s voice and looked up at the sky -- Lance never did know when to keep his mouth shut.

Sendak laughed darkly as he stared at the mages trapped behind the inferno,

“You mean he hasn’t told you?”

When he was only met with silence, the man turned towards Keith who still had his fists balled at his sides.

“He hasn’t told you of his one and only purpose in his filthy, insignificant life?”

Keith could feel Lance’s water magic trying to overwhelm the flames of the prison, but he knew that those flames would remain there for as long as Keith wanted them to; even if it did take a great amount of magical power.

Lance’s water abilities were nothing to laugh at; he was extremely talented in his art with a lot of untapped potential.

Even if Lance couldn’t see that himself, Keith  _ could _ .

The raven moved so that he was back in his adversary’s line of sight; there was no way he was going to let this asshole murder his only family. Instinctively, even if he knew that Lance would not be able to hear him -- Keith reached out to the water mage.

_ Lance, stay out of this. _

“And what, let your hot headed nature destroy you, I don’t think so Mullet!”

Once again Keith felt ever molecule in his body freeze.

It was like Lance had drowned him in a wave of icy, cold water.

The fire mage turned towards the fire wall once more and caught Lance’s wide blue eyes; seeming to have caught onto what had in fact just happened.

Lance had heard him.

There were times when it seemed that Lance could read his mind -- mostly because of Lance’s uncanny ability to read his emotions, but this was different.

Lance had actually heard him and Keith hadn’t need to touch him.

Sendak cocked his head to the side inquisitively before a smile appeared on his angular face,

“Don’t tell me, you’ve actually managed to connect with a DragonBorn; but even so, that piece of  _ trash  _ doesn’t look like a DragonBorn now does he? Perhaps I should bring you along to Lady Haggar’s as well; you might be found useful.”

Keith’s world stopped at the mention of the woman that scarred him so deeply.

He could never subject Lance or any of his loved ones to that  _ nightmare _ .

“Why did everything go so silent?” Sendak prodded cruelly, “Of course the damaged Soothsayer can’t say anything, but you DragonBorn, where did your fire go?”

Keith’s mind just couldn’t stop reeling as new phrases he had never heard before swirled around his head.

A Soothsayer?

Is that the name for what he can do?

Why does it matter to the GALRA Organisation that he can talk to Lance without touch? 

And why is he calling Lance a DragonBorn? Those, those hadn’t existed for centuries. Keith remembered reading about them as a child -- from a time even before the GALRA Organisation had him; Shiro loved history and was always telling him stories.

There were so many questions, and like always, he had absolutely no answers for them. 

But one thing was at the forefront of Keith’s mind; and he was unwavering in it.

There was NO WAY IN HELL that grubby bastard was going to get his hands on Lance. 

For the first time in a long time, he wished he had a voice; he wished he could scream at the man in front of him for even thinking about threatening his family, for threatening Lance.

“What is it 53484?” Sendak taunted as he raised his prosthetic limb, “Cat caught your tongue?” 

The raven glared at the man darkly as he brought his hands together; his fire magic once again bursting forth in his hands. 

Before Sendak could even twitch, a fire sword had been summoned into Keith’s hands as fire exploded from his heels driving him forward. Sendak glared as Keith’s sword connected with his prosthetic and sent him flying backwards; the intense heat of the flames licking at the harsk metal and flesh of his limb.

“You think you’re ready to play with the big boys?” Sendak growled as a magical circle appeared in front of him, “Then we will play.”

“BLOOD BIND!”

The blood culminating on his prosthetic and flesh gave tangible form as they sprung from Sendak’s skin and lashed out at Keith like a whip. 

“Keith!” Allura’s voice came from behind him, “Don’t let that cut you!”

Instinctually following Allura’s command, Keith dove to the side just as the whip struck the pavement and shattered the concrete upon impact.

And to think…

That could have been him.

“Ah, if it isn’t Alfor’s Allura,” Sendak tilted his head curiously, “I thought I recognised you, Zarkon will be interested to know that you are still alive.”

“Wait a minute,” Pidge’s voice then sounded from behind Keith, “Did you say  _ Zarkon _ ? You work for Zarkon?”

Keith flinched as he realised that Pidge was somehow tangled up in this entire mess somehow too.

Sendak smirked and licked his lips,

“Well 53484, it seems like you’re running with quite a crowd here. It seems that you never truly can avoid the tendrils of Fate.”

Suddenly, when Keith wasn’t paying attention, Sendak’s arm shot out like a rocket and latched around Keith’s middle; his magic immediately siphoning from his hands as the Magic restricting metal touched his skin. It was also at this moment that the magic keeping the fiery wall upright was doused and a soundless scream was torn from Keith’s lips from the strain. 

“Don’t even think about it you overgrown, mangey quiznak!”

Keith suddenly felt the sensation of falling as the prosthetics grip on him released and he fell towards the ground. He watched as stalactites of ice shot from the pavement and shoved Sendak away from Keith who know laid on his side staring up at the scene with wide eyes.

_ Lance _ ...

“Be careful Salamander…” The Sendak smirked as he started to break his way through the ice spikes, “You don’t want to hurt your Fated now do you?”

Lance seemed to hesitate for a moment, his eyes shooting back to Keith for a brief moment before his face reddened almost comically.

“Did you just call me a lizard?!” He exploded, “Hunk, that asswipe actually called  _ me  _ a lizard while he looks like the back-side of an elephant with STIs.”

“Uh Lance,” Hunk laughed nervously as he hovered his hands over the ground and called a few stone pillars forth to shoot a Sendak in succession to keep him busy, “I don’t think now is the time!”

“Hunk is right,” Allura called back as she changed her staff into her long-ranged whip, “Lance, we need to get Keith out of here.”

“I am sorry to say that 53484 will not be going anywhere, but with me back to the place where he belongs.”

Keith felt cold sweat gather at the back of his neck as he quickly pushed himself back to his feet in time to dodge out of the way of Sendak’s next attack. Flames erupted from the teen’s feet as he avoided Sendak and landed precariously on the tips of his toes near Lance. 

“I will not fail in this mission,” Sendak growled as he raised his prosthetic once more, “I will not return to Haggar empty handed again!”

A magical circle appeared over Sendak’s arm; an eerie shade of purple that Keith had never seen the man produce before. Keith instinctually turned his body towards Lance to protect him in any way he could; only for him to give pause. 

Running along Lance’s cheekbones were light blue scales that seemed to stretch out towards his jaw before fading into his usually even, tanned skin tone. His ocean blue eyes were focused, and slitted as his brown hair seemed to be turning white in some places. Keith found himself mesmerised by Lance’s new features…

Sendak wasn’t wrong, Lance sort of did look reptilian…

But now wasn’t the time or place to be dwelling on this; they were in the middle of a battle after all. Keith had to make sure not to forget this though; it’s definitely something he will have to talk about with Lance later.

“Ah, look at that, the lizard can actually do something useful,” Sendak smiled menacingly as his magical power started to expand, “What do you think Keith? Lady Haggar would definitely be able to use his life force for the Project now wouldn’t she?”

“You won’t even get a chance to capture Keith, let alone snag Lance.”

Keith’s attention immediately snapped to Pidge who had their hands in front of them and a smirk on their lips; a light green magic circle floating in front of their hands. Upon their incantation, vines erupted from the magic circle and started to wrap around Sendak’s prosthetic; instantaneously cancelling out Sendak’s magic circle.

“W-What?!” Sendak roared dangerously.

“Heh, you’re not the only one who has nullifying magic,” Pidge chuckled, “Lance and Keith, do it now!”

Keith looked to Lance who saluted teasingly and called forth his own magic circle; multitudes of ice-like arrows rising around his head,

“Firing at will! You ready Mullet?”

The fire mage felt something inside him warm as Lance’s icy ocean blue eyes met his; he once again nodded his own head called on his flames to envelop his body like a suit of armour -- ready to turn himself into a human missile. 

With a mighty war cry, Lance released his magic and Sendak could do nothing but stand there as he was struck by the ice that pelleted him like a barrage of bullets. And finally, his air was knocked clear out of him as he was thrown off his feet by a fiery fist impacting his abdomen sending him clear across the square and onto his back. 

Keith slowly rose to an upright position; his left hand smarting from the impact against Sendak’s chest. The raven mage turned to see Lance walking slowly towards him; exhaustion plain on his features. 

Keith saw it mere seconds before it happened.

He pushed his legs to move as Lance’s own legs started to give out from underneath him. Keith managed to get underneath the water mage’s arm just moments before he hit the ground; managing to prop him upright instead of letting him fall on his face into the dirt. 

From this angle, Keith could see Lance’s face and he noticed that the strange markings had suddenly disappeared. The fire mage pursed his lips and furrowed his brows; he was sure that he saw something there a minute ago.

“Samurai,” Lance huffed against the top of Keith’s forehead, “Stop thinking so hard, you’re giving me a headache.”

Keith hummed in acknowledgement, but his thoughts didn’t cease.

“Keith, I’m serious,” The water mage sighed, “Calm down; we’ll figure it out together, just take a few deep breaths.”

_ But… _

“Uh guys, I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news,” Hunk interrupted them nervously, “But he’s getting back up!”

The fire mage’s head snapped towards the fallen Sendak and paled as the man started to stagger to his feet.

“You honestly think,” He huffed painfully, “That  _ that weak _ attack would be enough to best me?!”

“Lance,” Pidge sounded from behind them, “Keith, I don’t think I have enough magic to fight anymore; it took everything I had to nullify just that one spell.”

“I don’t think  _ any _ of us have the ability to beat him,” Allura muttered fearfully as she gathered her sword close to herself, “But we have to try.”

_ Allura… _

“The Princess is right as always,” Lance muttered cheekily, “We have to fight back.”

_ No,  _ Keith squeezed the taller boy against him,  _ Lance you don’t have nearly enough magic left to fight --  _

“Well it’s not like we can let him take you  _ carino _ ,” The water mage pressed his face against the top of Keith’s head once more, “That is not an option.”

Keith scowled,

_ What did I say about you calling me names that I do not understand. _

“Not the point I was trying to get at Mullet.” Lance whispered somewhat fondly, “What I am trying to say is that we’re not going to let you go without a fight; he’ll have to kill us first.”

The fire mage felt his heart stop for a moment. 

Just the thought of that…

Just the thought of losing Lance, of losing them all…

“It will be a useless endeavor DragonBorn; you nor your friends do not have the power to stop me.”

“They might not, but I do.”

All heads turned to the side and saw a stranger dressed in a full black outfit; a scar across his nose and a prosthesis in plain view. Everyone looked at the newcomer in confusion; all but Sendak and a certain raven haired fire mage. The stranger had mostly dark raven hair with a fringe the colour of snow and sharp, but kind, grey eyes. 

The aura he carried was both cold and menacing while warm and comforting…

“Patient #74476, glad to see that you made my job that much easier for me.” Sendak grinned.

_ Shiro. _


	5. DragonBorns and Soothsayers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle with Sendak wraps up and a long forgotten history is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya Minna!~
> 
> I am apologising now for the huge plot dump that you're about to read!  
> A lot of explanation and it's a little dialogue heavy!  
> I also apologise once again for OOCness in the characters and the fact that I struggle with giving all characters a chance to speak -- I'll try to be more successful in the future!
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Also #SupportKeaton #SupportAllVoltronVAs #StoptheHate
> 
> That is all!

Keith couldn’t tear his eyes off of the older man standing in front of him. 

His brother. 

The brother he had believed to be dead, was standing before him as if they had only seen each other yesterday. 

Shiro’s comforting, yet somewhat dark, aura wrapped around the immediate area tightly causing those within range to shiver, except for Keith himself. However, even he had to admit that the older raven’s aura seemed strange.

That was a given he supposed.

A lot could happen to someone in ten years.

“So 74477,” Sendak growled as he shifted his stance, “You’ve finally decided to come out of hiding have you?”

“Who said I was hiding?” Shiro’s gaze burned into that of the bounty hunter, “Maybe you just haven’t been searching in the right places.”

Keith furrowed his brows at the statement. 

The fire mage thought back to all the times in his childhood where he thought he could feel someone watching him, only to find that there was no one there. He had thought that it was the eyes of the Organisation. All those times he had felt those eyes, he had thought that the Organisation had found him and were going to take him away.

That they were going to destroy everything and  _ everyone _ that he had ever come into contact with. 

Had that really been Shiro watching over him all this time?

Why hadn’t he said anything?

Why hadn’t he come out to Keith and tell him he was alright? 

He couldn’t help but feel a little hurt, but at the same time, he knew that Shiro must have had reasons.

They were definitely going to have a  _ long _ talk when Sendak was taken care of.

However, none of that was going to happen if he couldn’t find a way to get as a far from the bounty hunter as he could. He might not have seen Shiro in ten years, but he knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to attack anyone if innocent people were in the line of fire. 

After all the times he had sacrificed himself for their safety in the Organisation, that was pretty much a given. The raven tuned out everything that was happening around and focused on his magic. Which admittedly was kind of hard with Lance leaning on him for support. 

A small part of him just wanted to seep into Lance’s warmth and forget that all of this was happening, but he couldn’t afford to do that. 

Not when Lance and the others were  _ depending  _ on both Shiro and himself to get them out of there alive.

He could feel the harsh heat circulating around the palm of his hand, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to do anything if Sendak noticed what he was doing. 

Without an ounce of hesitation, Keith swung one of his arms from his side, being careful to keep a firm grip on Lance, to spread his hand out in front of him. He smirked as five tendrils of white heat flew out of his hand. The larger male cursed loudly and was forced to throw his prosthetic hand up to guard the rest of his body from getting burned.

But even then, the smell of burning flesh pressed against his senses causing him to fight back a retch.

“How do you like that?” Lance shouted almost hysterically from where he was leaning on him; his own hand raising with a tide of water gathering in his own palm.

_ No Lance-- _

The water mage didn’t seem to hear him as he continued his assault and sent a torrential wave of water down on the bounty hunter; preventing him from seeing the incoming attack from Allura herself as she dove into the fray, her whip at the ready. Keith felt something settle into the pit of his stomach as he watched those he held close fighting for him once more. 

“Don’t you sniveling brats know when to quit?!” Sendak roared furiously, a shockwave of oppressive dark magic pressing down upon them as the all consuming rage escaped him.

Keith cursed as he was forced to his knees from the sheer darkness that was coming off of Sendak in waves. He cringed when he heard Lance cringe from somewhere above him and tried to soothe his discomfort with some calming emotions, but with how high-strung Keith was feeling at the moment he wasn’t sure if that would be possible.

“Allura!”

Keith’s head snapped up to see that Sendak’s prosthetic had latched onto another victim.

And this time it was Allura.

He found that his eyes automatically drifted to Shiro who had a set expression on his face. A long time burning fire that should have been quelled by pain many years ago smoldering deep within him as he stared at the bounty hunter.

Before anyone could process what was going to happen, a deep purple magic circle exploded beneath Shiro’s feet and dark, shadowy tendrils burst forth like writhing snakes. Each tendril wrapping around a limb; securing Sendak in place while also prying on the prosthetic to get it to release its grip on Allura. 

“Sendak, what are you trying to achieve here? Did you really think that you will be able to bring Keith and his friends to the Witch without a fight?”

“You call this  _ farce _ a fight?” Sendak growled.

“Of course he’s not,” Allura choked out from where she hung in Sendak’s grip, “That would imply that you had a fair chance in winning.”

Keith watched as Allura was bathed in blue-ish white light and he couldn’t fight the smirk that spread across his lips once more. She placed a glowing hand on Sendak’s prosthetic; near where one of Shiro’s tendrils was working to free her. 

A loud crack echoed throughout the turned battleground, as Sendak’s arm started to splinter and break beneath the pressure of both Allura and Shiro’s combined magics. Keith was so distracted by what was happening in front of him that he jumped nearly a mile into the air when something brushed against his forearm; flames immediately jumping to his fingers defensively.

He felt himself relaxing as he realised that it was only Pidge and not some lackey of Sendak. The amber haired mage was staring up at him with scared, yet curious amber eyes that made Keith’s heart clench guiltily. Obviously when they came looking for the Castle of Lions, they weren’t expecting to fall into something like this. 

Quite honestly, neither was he. 

He tried to smile reassuringly at them, but then he remembered that they were also put off by his presence, so he doubted that it would be of any help.

“Keith,” Lance’s voice brushed against his ear, “It’s going to be alright; ‘Lura has this.”

A loud explosion brought his attention back to the battle, and he saw Sendak was staggering to the side and he grimaced as he clutched his shoulder tightly; his prosthetic limb replaced by an empty space. He spat at the ground bitterly and scowled as his unnatural eyes found and penetrated Keith’s; the raven shuddered from the pure hatred that was emanating off him. 

“This isn’t over,” Sendak growled, “Dr. Haggar will get what she wants and once she hears that you have found your Fated 53484, she will never let you be free.”

Before anyone could move, a magic circle appeared under Sendak’s feet and quickly engulfed him in a bright light. When the light disappeared, the dark haired mage was gone.

VLDVLDVLDVLD

Lance fought back a flinch as Keith wrapped bandages around one of his forearms. The raven mumbled apologies under his breath which the brunet had barely heard. His eyes were locked on the older raven who was leaning against the far wall of the guild infirmary. He was aware of Allura standing by the doorway, keeping a close eye on ‘Shiro’ just in case he tried to do anything.  

Pidge and Hunk had disappeared soon after arriving at the guild hall. Lance was willing to bet that the latter had taken refuge in the kitchens to unwind after the battle, while Pidge had been taken into the Guild Master’s--well Guild Master  _ Advisor’s _ Office--almost immediately after they had returned; Coran had expressed that Pidge come talk with him straight away.

Why Pidge had to speak with Coran and Shiro did not was a conundrum to Lance that’s for sure.

_ There,  _  Keith sighed as he threw the leftover bandages on the floor,  _ That should do it. _

Lance fought back a scowl as he saw that same tired and defeated look cross over Keith’s face. He was really not liking the fact that that tense look was becoming a permanent fixture on the fire mage’s face. Sure, Keith did not smile a lot to begin with, but  _ this _ was different.

“So,” Lance frowned contemplatively as he turned his full attention to ‘Shiro’, “Not to sound rude, but who are you and where did you come from?”

_ Lance _ , Keith’s reprimanding tone brushed across his mind; the fact that again Keith wasn’t touching him pushed firmly to the side as he focused on the mission at hand.

There was much more important things to deal with right now.

“No Keith,” ‘Shiro’ sighed from his position near the door, “Don’t make that face, he has every right to be wary of me.”

Lance had to fight back a smile as he saw a pout spread across Keith’s face, but also felt confusion as he realised that Shiro  _ knew  _ Keith’s name. 

But from the way that Keith reacted to the other mage’s arrival earlier, Lance knew that they had to have known each other  _ before  _ Keith came to the Castle of Lions.

_ Lance,  _ Keith’s voice called his attention once more,  _ It’s alright, he’s my older brother. _

“Your older brother?” Lance felt his eyes widening in disbelief.

“I’m sorry that I did not have a chance to introduce myself properly earlier,” ‘Shiro’ stepped forward and extended a hand out to Lance, “I’m Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me Shiro -- all my friends do.”

The water mage stared down at the prosthetic hand that was shoved under his nose. Lance looked at the synthetic hand warily before grasping his own hand around it and shaking the older male’s hand firmly.

“Wait,” Shiro spoke up suddenly; realisation crossing his grey eyes as he released Lance’s hand, “Keith, can you…”

Shiro didn’t even have to finish his sentence before Keith was nodding his head. The shadow mage pursed his lips thoughtfully,

“So this is the ‘Fated’ that Sendak was referring to?”

Keith nodded again and Lance noticed that Shiro’s mouth formed a thin line. He could almost see the cogs turning in the older mage’s head as he thought this through. The raven seemed to know a lot more about what was happening than Keith did. Maybe he even knew what Sendak was going on about. 

The fire mage must have been thinking along the same lines, because his fingerless gloved hand grabbed onto Shiro’s flesh one. And despite the fact that Keith was holding onto Shiro, his words once again flowed seamlessly into Lance’s own mind -- as if it were Lance’s own coherent thought.

_ Shiro, what are Soothsayers? _

The shadow mage’s eyes widened and most of the colour drained from his naturally pale face,

“Where did you hear that?”

“Sendak said it before you showed up,” Lance spoke up, “He said that there was a connection between soothsayers and something that he called DragonBorns, but he didn’t say what that connection was.”

Shiro seemed to grimace and crossed his arms across his chest. Lance could tell that he didn’t want to answer that question, but he wasn’t going to let up until he did; Keith wasn’t the only curious one after all. Lance wanted to know his role in this entire thing as well...and maybe what this whole ‘DragonBorn’ business was.

He was preparing to push Shiro a little more when the sound of metal reached his ears. He turned his head and saw that Allura had stepped away from the door and was watching Shiro carefully,

“If you don’t tell them what it is, I will.” She whispered bluntly.

“Allura...” Lance looked at one of his oldest friends in confusion.

The requip mage sighed in resignation,

“Lance, this is something that my father should have told you long ago…perhaps before Keith even arrived here, but…”

“But your father never got the chance to and instead left it to me,” A familiar, but tired, voice sounded from the doorway, “But I could not bring myself to do it...I just wanted you boys to be  _ safe _ .”

Lance’s eyes widened as he turned towards the doorway to see none other an Coran. His fingers fiddling with his orange moustache; a nostalgic and thoughtful look in his wise eyes. The older mage entered the room; both Hunk and Pidge following closely behind; silent as mice.

“Coran,” The water mage furrowed his eyebrows, “What are you talking about?”

The ginger haired man glanced away from his ‘nephews’ and seemed to gather whatever thoughts that he had. Lance found himself gravitating towards Keith; their arms brushing together in an almost type of comfort. He felt the fire mage relax into his side, but could also tell that he had all of his attention on the older mage standing in front of him.

In fact, Lance was willing to bet that Coran had everyone’s undivided attention.

“You see, over a thousand years ago, there was a group of people with extraordinary gifts. The gifts were called extraordinary because their abilities didn’t have any semblance to magic at all; they simply just existed. They did not rely on magical artifacts or a mage’s internal magic container; they seemed to be powered entirely on their own.

“The gifts were various and all had the ability to do different things, but the rarest of all the gifts were the ones who possessed ‘the silver tongue’, otherwise known as Soothsayers.

“Soothsayers possess the gift of speech and deception; through the use of their words they could manipulate whomever they wanted as well as detect if anyone was lying. They also had the ability to speak to any living creature on the planet regardless of what tongue they spoke. 

“But there was one living creature in particular that Soothsayers connected with beyond all the rest.”

“Dragons…” Lance found himself whispering; something tickling at the very edges of his memory -- his mother’s voice  _ urging  _ him to remember.

Keith however raised an eyebrow in confusion and Lance had a guess as to why. But it seemed that Keith wasn’t the only one to be thinking it...

“I don’t know if you’re aware of this Coran, but Keith can’t talk.” Hunk raised a hand in question, “Like at all.”

Coran nodded his head in agreement,

“Yes Hunk m’boy, and there is a reason for that. You see, the other mages became both jealous and afraid of the magic that the Soothsayers seemed to possess. Even the strongest of the abilities couldn’t ‘tame’ a dragon and it caused a lot of turmoil within them. 

Soothsayers were soon to be marked as carriers of Dark magic and were considered to be the spawn of the Devil himself. The Soothsayers were hunted down, persecuted, abused and  _ killed _ for their gift...that is all except one.”

“That’s,” Lance swallowed thickly around his words, “That’s terrible.”

He looked at Keith out of the corner of his eye and noticed that the fire mage’s pale skin had turned almost grey in colour. The water mage reached out a comforting hand and wrapped it around Keith’s shoulders trying to give off a feeling of reassurance. 

“Right you are m’boy,” Coran nodded his head emphatically, “It was by far not one of the more shining moments in Magical history.”

“But Coran,” Pidge spoke up from their position beside Hunk; pushing their glasses up their nose thoughtfully, “What happened to the last Soothsayer?”

Coran pursed his lips and scowled almost darkly,

“The legend says that one Soothsayer was allowed to live since the Gift was so rare to possess; they didn’t want it to completely disappear, in case they needed a power like that in the future. However, in order to prevent the man from being able to use his abilities, the Council metaphorically cut out his tongue by placing him and his bloodline under a curse; leaving him unable to speak to anyone or anything ever again. 

“It is said that the descendants of the last Soothsayer will be mute so that their abilities could continue on, but could never be used to sway or control anyone ever again.

“It is because of this fate, the abilities of the Soothsayer were forced to invert so that the only way they could communicate was through touch.”

Silence engulfed the infirmary as Coran’s words sunk in. A chill swept down Lance’s spine causing him involuntarily shudder. He knew that people had a dark side, but he didn’t know people could be this dark. 

Lance jumped slightly when he felt Keith’s warm hand touch his forearm. The simple gesture allowed him to relax slightly and placed his own hand over the fire mage’s fingers. As disturbed as he was over the tale, Keith had to be even moreso. 

“The Dragons…” Lance found himself whispering.

“What was that Lance?” Allura called his attention back.

“You mentioned that the Dragons and the Soothsayers shared a connection. What kind of connection would that be?”

It didn’t seem as though Coran was going to answer as he fiddled with his moustache some more. 

“Well…”

“I can take it from here if you would like Coran.”

Everyone in the room turned their heads towards Shiro who had stepped forward; his face set in a contemplative frown.

“This portion of the tale is not widely known, as the Dragons were an especially secretive race of creatures…”

“Then how would  _ you _ know it?” Pidge stepped towards the older male with their hands on their hips.”

Lance fought back his amusement as a deep growl resounded through his mind from Keith at Pidge’s veiled accusation. The fire mage moved to take a step forward, but Lance used the grip that he had on Keith to hold him back.

“I have managed to come across a few things in my travels,” Shiro stated somewhat vaguely, but a fond smile on his face, “Not that it has been easy.”

“But…”

“Now is not the time Pidge,” Allura interrupted them with a sympathetic expression, “I am sure Shiro will answer your questions in due time, but it is important that he tells us what he knows.”

Pidge looked as though they were about to argue, but a firm hand on her shoulder from Hunk prevented them from doing so. 

“Just let him explain Pidge.” Hunk smiled down at them softly. 

Pidge crossed their arms over their chest and pouted, but did not say anything else. Shiro tried to smile at them, but the expression seemed to fall flat. The older mage took a deep breath and pushed forward with the tale,

“It is well known to everyone, even now, that Dragons weren’t particularly fond of the human race; that reason is because of what happened to the Soothsayers. 

Silver Tongues were very important to the Dragons; actually it could even be said that their very existence depended on them. Soothsayers were, in a sense, the gatekeepers to the Dragon realm; if someone had ill intentions towards the Dragons, the Soothsayers would be the first to know of it. 

When the Soothsayers were slaughtered, the Dragons went on a rampage because many of the Soothsayers had become the Dragons’ Fated.”

Lance once again felt his mother’s voice tickling at the back of his mind,

**_Hijo, there is something you need to understand…_ ** **_  
_ ** **_There may be Dragon blood running through your veins, but that does not make you a monster._ ** **_  
_ ** **_I promise you that there is someone out there waiting for you -- someone you need to protect._ ** **_  
_ ** **_Someone who will stand by your side even when you feel like your wings will fail._ ** **_  
_ ** ****_You just have to be patient._

“My mama,” Lance’s face paled.

“Lance?” Allura frowned thoughtfully at him; but he couldn’t seem to focus on her -- his mind getting pulled further and further into the memory.

**When will that be mama? I don’t WANT to wait!**

“Lance, buddy,” Hunk’s voice tried to cut through the fog and a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, “Are you okay?”

**_It’s too early to know Hijo...just know that that person is Fated to be with you and that you must protect them with everything you have. You can do that can’t you?_ **

_ Lance... _

**Of course Mama! I’m super strong; I can protect everyone!**

**_I know you can Hijo, I know you can…or else..._ **

_ LANCE! _

Lance felt as though he tumbled back into himself as the voice shocked his brain. The water mage took a deep breath as his gaze found Keith’s; his indigo eyes seemed to probe his:

_ Lance, what’s wrong? _

“My Mama,” Lance closed his eyes, “She, she knew about the Fated.”

“Ay,” Coran approached them and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “That she would m’boy; it was part of your heritage after all.”

The water mage’s eyes widened,

“My-my heritage?”

“Why yes,” Coran nodded his head with his thumb and forefinger on his chin, “Both Hunk and yourself actually.”

“M-Me?” Hunk stuttered and pointed at himself in confusion.

Coran continued to nod his head,

“Your entire village was descended from the Dragons; you m’boys are the DragonBorn -- two of the only survivors even.”

Lance felt as if the entire world had dropped from underneath his feet; it was as if the wind could blow him over at a moment’s notice. He glanced over at his childhood friend and he noticed that he had gone just as pale. 

“Uh, Coran no disrespect or anything, but you have to be making a huge mistake; if I were any kind of Dragon, I’m pretty sure I would know about it.”

Lance wanted to say that he agreed with Hunk, but at this point he wasn’t too sure. 

“That’s not entirely true,” Shiro stepped in for Coran; raising his hands placatingly, “If anything you and Lance would seem completely ‘human’ as by this point your dragon blood would be extremely diluted.

“You see, DragonBorn were created through the mating of Dragons and Soothsayers. During the New Moon, Dragons were given the ability to take human form, allowing them, if they wished, to mate with their fated Soothsayers. 

It was through this coupling that a new species was born…the DragonBorn; humans with the ability of a dragon. And like Dragons, they are born to do one thing and one thing only…”

Lance chewed on his bottom lip as Keith’s voice floated into his mind,

_ To protect their Fated. _

“What happens,” Hunk swallowed nervously, “What happens if a DragonBorn can’t protect their Fated?”

Lance already knew the answer before the response even left Shiro’s mouth; his response mirroring that of his mother’s all that time ago.

“...Die,” Shiro frowned at the floor, “They die.”

Lance shuddered and thought that he felt when Keith’s breath got trapped in his chest. They had both heard Sendak claim that he and Keith were Fated. If that was true, then Lance basically held Keith’s life in his very hands and vice versa.

If anything were to happen to either of them…

If they were actually Fated, it would explain why Lance could feel Keith’s emotions so easily; it’s because the emotions were reverberating into his very soul. 

“Quiznak.”

TBC

**Author's Note:**

> Look at that you made it to the end!  
> I hope you enjoyed it! :D  
> I'm hoping to post the new chapter in the very near future, but with my job it may get a little bit difficult! :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> -sktrgrl
> 
> PS. If you would like to see more of my Voltron ramblings, check me out on the Voltron Amino under SportsnAnimeManiac -- there's not much there, but if you want to read some rants and such, it may be a good time :P 
> 
> See you all soon! (Hopefully) :D


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